1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. Today we 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: are going to talk about the Scopes Trial also known 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 1: as the Monkey Trial, so known as the Scopes Monkey Trial, 6 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: which played out in Dayton, Tennessee, in the summer of 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: I learned last night from a dear friend of mine 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: who grew up in Tennessee that they cover this in 9 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: Tennessee History class. Cool. So if you grew up in Tennessee, 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: or maybe if you've studied law, you might already know 11 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,599 Speaker 1: a lot of these details. But a lot of what 12 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: most folks know in quotation marks about this trial really 13 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: comes from Inherit the Wind, which started as a play 14 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty five and was adapted into a film 15 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty. And even if you have never personally 16 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: seen Inherit the Wind, which was conceived more as an 17 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: allegory for McCarthy ism than an actual portrayal of the 18 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: Scopes Trial, it does not even use the same names 19 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: or location. A lot of conventional wisdom about the trial 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: and its personalities and how it played out really have 21 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: much deeper roots in inherent the wind than in actual history. 22 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: I won't out them by name, but I have a 23 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: friend who I mentioned yesterday that we were doing this, 24 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: and their reaction was, wait, is that one about slavery? 25 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: It's like, oh, no, not, so there's no shame in 26 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: having you know, blind spots in your historical knowledge tickled me. 27 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: And it's a very smart person, but we all have them, 28 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: those weird blind spots. Uh, and Tracey will now clear 29 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: it up, and that person will know all the things 30 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:53,559 Speaker 1: about anything about slavery at all. No. So The State 31 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: of Tennessee versus John Thomas Scopes was the United States 32 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: first major legal battle over the teaching of evolution. Charles 33 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: Darwin had published On the Origin of Species by Means 34 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in 35 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: the Struggle for Life back in eighteen fifty nine, and 36 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: Darwin did not invent the idea of evolution. The basic 37 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: idea that species change and shift over time goes back 38 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: millennia in multiple cultures, but the book itself was hugely 39 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: influential and very controversial by the nineteen teens and twenties. 40 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: Though Darwin's writings were well established, they were generally accepted 41 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: in the field of biology, and as part of a 42 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: general trend of progressive educational reform, they also started to 43 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: be incorporated into school curricula. In the United States, teachers 44 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: were beginning to unionize and the National Education Association had 45 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 1: recommended that states try to align their standards for education nationally. 46 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: And with this overall trend in standardization, more and more 47 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: states were making science a mandatory school requirement, and more 48 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: and more science textbook were addressing evolution. For example, William 49 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: Hunter's A Civic Biology Presented in Problems, which was published 50 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: in nineteen fourteen, was the approved biology textbook in the 51 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: state of Tennessee in nineteen Like other civic biology texts 52 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: of the time, it framed biology in terms of its 53 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: practical applicability to other parts of life, like hygiene and 54 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: wellness and food safety. Hunter's book included evolution in chapter fourteen, 55 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: quote Division of labor, the various forms of Plants and animals, 56 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: and part of that chapter reads the great English scientists 57 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: Charles Darwin, from this and other evidence, explained the theory 58 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: of evolution. This is the belief that simple forms of 59 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: life on Earth slowly and gradually gave rise to those 60 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: more complex, and that thus ultimately the most complex forms 61 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: came into existence. Running parallel to this progressive shift and 62 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: educational standards and the inclusion of evolution in science textbook 63 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: was a rise in religious fundamentalism, particularly Christian fundamentalism. The 64 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: term fundamentalism itself was coined in the nineteen twenties, signifying 65 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: a strict adherence to certain fundamental concepts of Christian faith 66 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: and in some cases interpreting the Bible literally rather than figuratively. 67 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,280 Speaker 1: And when it came to evolutionary theory, some Christians, particularly 68 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: fundamentalist Christians, objected to the idea that humans came from 69 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: monkeys and to the idea that something other than a 70 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,359 Speaker 1: divine hand could be credited for life on earth. And 71 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 1: if the Bible was the literal word of God, then 72 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,040 Speaker 1: the writings of Charles Darwin and other evolutionary biologists were 73 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: directly contradictory to the creation story in the Book of Genesis. Obviously, 74 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: other religions and other nations had their own views on 75 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: evolution and whether it should be taught, but Christianity in 76 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,479 Speaker 1: the United States is what is relevant to the Scopes trial. 77 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: Also for the sake of clarity. This whole human came 78 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: from monkey's idea. It's one that a lot of people 79 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 1: took away from the Origin of species and from all 80 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: the conversations that followed its publication. But the Origin of 81 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: Species only very briefly and vaguely alludes to the origins 82 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: of humankind. There is nothing in its saying humans came 83 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: from monkeys. Darwin's second book, The Descent of Man, came 84 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: out in eighteen seventy one, and it is about theories 85 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 1: of human origins, and it's basic conclusion is that quote 86 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:33,280 Speaker 1: man is descended from some less highly organized form. Darwin 87 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: describes the less organized form as some ancient, unknown ancestor 88 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 1: that does have some monkey like traits, but it is 89 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: not a modern monkey. Today, the scientific consensus is that 90 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: both humans and monkeys descended from an ancestor that lived 91 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: millions of years ago, not that one came from another. 92 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: Essentially two branches of a tree, yes, a very large 93 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: and very complex tree. Yes, yes, yes, it's not like 94 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: they each branch off from one spot. It's there. Yeah. 95 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: We talked about this in our Pilled Down Man episode. 96 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: If you are looking for a little more of that 97 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: piece of history. So in the face of this ongoing 98 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: conflict between scientific acceptance of evolution and religious rejection of it, 99 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: multiple states began considering laws to ban its teaching. On 100 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,599 Speaker 1: its face, this was a religious issue. The idea that 101 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: children might go to school and come home questioning their 102 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: faith was frightening and infuriating too many parents, especially given 103 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: that public schools were funded through taxes they were paying. 104 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: People were basically like, I want my kid to go 105 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: to the school I'm paying for and then come home 106 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 1: and say they don't believe in God anymore. But it 107 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: was also a general resistance to the overall trend of 108 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: establishing state and national education standards. Many parents in rural 109 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: counties didn't like the idea of far away legislatures in 110 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,679 Speaker 1: their state capitals or Washington, d c. Setting rules about 111 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,359 Speaker 1: what they're children would learn while having no idea what 112 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: their wishes or needs were. Passing laws against the teaching 113 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: of evolution was a way to gain a sense of 114 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: control over what children were being taught in the face 115 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: of all these changes to the educational system. Although Florida 116 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: and Oklahoma passed laws that were connected to this basic 117 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: issue in nineteen twenty three, it was Tennessee that became 118 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: the first state who explicitly forbid the teaching of evolution 119 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen Representative John W. Butler introduced what became known 120 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: as the Butler Act on January twenty one of that year. 121 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: He had been interested in introducing similar legislation as far 122 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,119 Speaker 1: back as nineteen twenty one, after hearing a sermon about 123 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: a young woman who had gone to college and come 124 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: home believing in evolution but not in God. Once Butler 125 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: had introduced the Act, there was some legislative back and forth, 126 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: but ultimately it passed both the Tennessee House and Senate 127 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: with overwhelming support. Tennessee's got owner, Austin p signed it 128 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: into law on March twenty one, after putting it off 129 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: until the last possible day and at one point telling 130 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: a senator that he thought the bill was absurd. P, 131 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: who was in his second term as governor, had already 132 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 1: instituted a number of progressive reforms within the state. He 133 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: was at that point trying to pass a massive school 134 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: reform bill that would do things like build high schools 135 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: in rural counties that didn't have them, length in the 136 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: school year, and make education compulsory. It's possible that P. 137 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: Finally signed the Butler Act in exchange for Congressional support 138 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,559 Speaker 1: for his massive school reform bill, or that he recognized 139 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: that this bill and the reforms that it was instituting 140 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: would face some resistance in rural parts of Tennessee, so 141 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: he felt like the Butler Act would assuage some people's 142 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: fears over what he was wanting to do. Even when 143 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,199 Speaker 1: he signed it, though he said it was mostly symbolic 144 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: and that he did not expect anyone to be charged 145 00:08:56,200 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 1: with violating it. The Butler Act made it illegal for 146 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: any teacher in Tennessee funded schools and universities to quote 147 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:06,959 Speaker 1: teach any theory that denies the story of the divine 148 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to 149 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: teach instead that man has descended from a lower order 150 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: of animals. It also established a fine of one hundred 151 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: to five hundred dollars, and the Act didn't really offer 152 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: insight on what to do about the fact that the 153 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: state approved biology textbook laid out the basic concepts of 154 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: evolution in chapter fourteen. This all brings us to the 155 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: Scopes trial, in which Tennessee teacher John Thomas Scopes was 156 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: charged with teaching evolution in defiance of the Butler Act. 157 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: He was convicted in a highly publicized trial that played 158 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:41,679 Speaker 1: out in a pretty circus like atmosphere, and it had 159 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: a lot of famous names in the legal teams on 160 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: both sides. But the whole thing came about in a 161 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,719 Speaker 1: way that's significantly different from what people might imagine. We 162 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 1: will have some details after the break. Although local attorneys 163 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: were also part of it, the Scopes trial involved a 164 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: hugely high profile cast of characters from out of town. 165 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: There was defense attorney Clarence Darrow, originally from Ohio, who 166 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: was one of America's most famous attorneys. He had represented 167 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: Eugene V. Debs after the massive Pullman strike of eighteen 168 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: ninety four. He had also defended Leopold and Loebe and 169 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: they're highly publicized murder trial. He's usually credited with getting 170 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: them a life murder sentence instead of being executed. And 171 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 1: the team on for the defense also included Arthur Garfield 172 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:34,959 Speaker 1: Haze of New York, who was the a c l 173 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: Used General Council. The man arguing for the prosecution, William 174 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: Jennings Bryan the Great Commoner was originally from Illinois. He 175 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: had run for president three Times and served as Secretary 176 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 1: of State under Woodrow Wilson. In the years leading up 177 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: to the trial, he had also become one of the 178 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: most prominent anti evolution figures in the nation, giving speeches 179 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 1: with names like the Bible and its Enemies and the 180 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: Menace of Darwinism. H. L. Mankin, who wrote some of 181 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: the most famous and most memorable coverage of the trial, 182 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: was from Baltimore, Maryland, and his coverage ran in the 183 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: Baltimore Sun. Meanwhile, Dayton, Tennessee, originally founded as Smith's Crossroads, 184 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:15,479 Speaker 1: was a town of less than eighteen hundred people situated 185 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 1: roughly between Chattanooga and Knoxville and the Tennessee River Valley. 186 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: In the late nineteenth century, it had become home to 187 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 1: the Dayton Iron and Coal Company, which, along with the railroad, 188 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,080 Speaker 1: had become the town's major employer. But by the nineteen 189 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: teams the blast furnace had shut down, leaving farming as 190 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,320 Speaker 1: the now struggling town's major industry. So between all the 191 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: big names and the struggling small town, it's easy to 192 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:42,319 Speaker 1: imagine that this was a case of a bunch of 193 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: high falutant city folk blustering in uninvited to run rough 194 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: shot over everybody and basically have a giant, public unwanted fight. 195 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:53,959 Speaker 1: But this was not the case at all, as still 196 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,560 Speaker 1: happens today when a newly passed law seems to run 197 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: contrary to the Constitution or civil liberties. The butler immediately 198 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: caught the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union. The 199 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,680 Speaker 1: a c l U publicly offered to defend any teacher 200 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: charged with its violation. An advertisement announcing that the a 201 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 1: c l U was seeking a test case ran in 202 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: a Chattanooga newspaper on May four. This advertisement came to 203 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: the attention of a group of Dayton's community and civic leaders. 204 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: Fred E. Robinson's drug store had become site of regular 205 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 1: meetings that included school superintendent Walter White, attorneys Herbert and 206 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: Sue Hicks, Cumberland Cole and Iron Company manager George Washington Rapilier, 207 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: and Robinson himself, who was also the school board president. 208 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 1: Some of them did care about the teaching of evolution 209 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: as a matter of principle, but they were far more 210 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: interested in the community of Dayton. They thought a great, 211 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 1: big trial would bring a lot of much needed attention 212 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: and tourism dollars to the town. Rapilier, which may also 213 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: have been Rapilier. Documents spell his name too different ways. 214 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: Is usually the person who's credited with convincing them all 215 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 1: to go along with this plan. To get the ball rolling, 216 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: they just needed a teacher, and the teacher in question 217 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,319 Speaker 1: was John Thomas Scopes, who was then twenty four. Scopes 218 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: had graduated from the University of Kentucky the year before, 219 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:21,679 Speaker 1: and he was working at the newly opened Ray County 220 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: High School, teaching algebra and physics, coaching football, and sometimes 221 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: substituting in biology. Dayton's civic leaders thought Scopes would be 222 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 1: a good candidate for this scheme because he was well 223 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: liked around town, he was not viewed as some kind 224 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: of radical, and he didn't have a family whose livelihood 225 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: would be threatened if he did lose his job. Although 226 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: they hoped it wouldn't come to that, Scopes wasn't particularly 227 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: eager to be arrested, but he agreed to go along 228 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: with this. He did not agree with the Butler Act. 229 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: He did not think it was possible to teach biology 230 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: without also teaching evolution, and he didn't think that evolution 231 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 1: was incompatible with religious faith. Scopes had even already at 232 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:08,160 Speaker 1: least supposedly done the necessary teaching of evolution. The prior April, 233 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,199 Speaker 1: he had done an exam review out of the state 234 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:14,959 Speaker 1: approved biology textbook. Although he couldn't remember specifically, he thought 235 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,680 Speaker 1: probably he'd gone over the chapter that included evolution. According 236 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: to some accounts, he later said that he had not, 237 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: but in any case, he was arrested for violating the 238 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: Butler Act on May seven, and he was indicted on May. 239 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: The town of Dayton then began to prepare for what 240 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 1: it hoped would be an onslaught of visitors from late 241 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: May until early July. The town built a tourist camp 242 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: to provide additional housing. It also added a number of 243 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: improvements to the court house, including an outdoor speakers platform 244 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: with benches and loud speakers to handle an overflow crowd. 245 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 1: To make the courtroom more hospitable to reporters and their work. 246 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: It also added camera platforms, radio microphones, and telephone and 247 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: telegraph lines. But it wasn't about accommodating lots of visitors. 248 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 1: Are making the courthouse more accessible to the news media. 249 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: Dayton also essentially turned part of its main road into 250 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 1: a festival grounds, complete with vendors and stalls, a scopes 251 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: trial Entertainment committee was formed. The Constable's motorcycle got a 252 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 1: new label. Monkeyville. Police businesses hung pictures of apes and 253 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: monkeys in their windows. A clothier who happened to be 254 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: named j R. Darwin made the most of it with 255 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: signs like Darwin is right inside and Darwin's Big Sale. 256 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: A whole lot of store suddenly started stocking plush monkeys. 257 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: Fred Robinson, whose uh drug store had been the site 258 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: of the first conversation about hatching this plot, Fred Robinson 259 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: started serving Semion sodas at the drug store. He strung 260 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 1: a giant banner across the street reading Robinson's drug Store 261 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: with where it started in smaller letters. Underneath. There were 262 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 1: also photo ops at the table where that an show 263 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: conversation had taken place. A chimpanzee named Joe Mendy, dressed 264 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: in a plaid suit and bow tie, who was one 265 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: of multiple chimpanzees brought into town for this was there 266 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: to greet his customers when they came into the store. 267 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: And in addition to all the business involvement in the 268 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: overall carnival atmosphere, where a tinerant evangelists who came to 269 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: town to preach about the evils of evolution and the 270 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: rightness of banning it from school. Another banner was strung 271 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: outside the courthouse that read, read your Bible, Bible in 272 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: all caps. Of course in theory, all of this big 273 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: monkey festival was going on because of a trial like 274 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: in court, which we were going to talk about. After 275 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: another quick sponsor break, jury's selection in the Scopes trial 276 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: began on July. On that same day, the judge John T. 277 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:00,160 Speaker 1: Ralston took the precaution of impaneling a second r and 278 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: jury to reindicte John Scopes. People had been so worried 279 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 1: that some other town was going to have this same 280 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: idea and hatch the same plan that the first indictment 281 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:13,679 Speaker 1: had been rushed through, and the judge was worried that 282 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: it was invalid. Actual trial proceedings were put off until 283 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: the following Monday to allow time for the radio hookups 284 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,199 Speaker 1: that had been installed in the courtroom to actually be 285 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: connected for broadcasts. The Scopes trial would be the first 286 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,200 Speaker 1: trial to be publicly broadcast nationwide, and it was also 287 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: filmed for newsreels that were distributed to movie theaters. The 288 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: defense and the prosecution each had a completely different focus 289 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: for this trial. From the prosecution's point of view, it 290 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: was really simple. They would establish that John Thomas Scopes 291 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: violated the Butler Act, which was state law, by teaching 292 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: evolution in a public school, and they would establish that 293 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: the state of Tennessee had the right to set its 294 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: own standards for the public school curriculum. The defenses most 295 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: practical folk us was whether the Act itself was enforceable, 296 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: whether it's definition of evolution was precise enough, and whether 297 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: a teacher had to both deny the story of divine 298 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: creation and teach that man had descended from lower animals 299 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: to be in violation of the law. But beyond that, 300 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:18,640 Speaker 1: it was looking at much broader issues than the defense 301 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: was like establishing whether the Butler Act was religiously motivated 302 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: and that evolution was scientifically sound. Let's focus on religion, 303 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: and this angle of religion versus science was really coming 304 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: from Clarence Darrow, who was a very vocal agnostic. The 305 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: a c. L U, which was reluctant to have Darrow 306 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: involved in this at all, viewed the Butler Act primarily 307 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: as an act on the freedom of speech, not on 308 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 1: the freedom of religion. This was in part because the 309 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: Supreme Court had previously ruled that the free speech clauses 310 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: of the First Amendment applied to state governments as well 311 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,800 Speaker 1: as to the federal government, it had not yet made 312 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,159 Speaker 1: such a ruling related to the freedom of religion, and 313 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 1: that wouldn't happen for several more decades. So basically, the 314 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 1: a c. L U was really looking at this as 315 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,440 Speaker 1: a speech issue, and Clarence Darrow was in his own 316 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: little world focusing on the religious aspect. Once the trial began, 317 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: about a thousand people tried to cram into the courtroom, 318 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:21,400 Speaker 1: which could hold about six hundred, and that happened every day. 319 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 1: The rest listened from benches outside the courthouse. The courtroom 320 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: was incredibly tight and incredibly hot, since the giant crush 321 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,719 Speaker 1: of people blocked the courtroom's windows, and at least at 322 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: the start of the trial, it had no electric fans 323 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:39,640 Speaker 1: to circulate air. Apart from reporters representing more than one 324 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,920 Speaker 1: hundred newspapers, most of those trying to watch were locals 325 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: and not visitors. So even though Dayton had turned the 326 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:49,159 Speaker 1: town into a sort of Scopes trial fair, it hadn't 327 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: had the hoped for rush of tourists. The trial began 328 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,359 Speaker 1: with some fairly straightforward questioning of students and other witnesses 329 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: who's testified about scopes discussions of evolution. But when Darrow 330 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: started trying to bring in expert witnesses to discuss the 331 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: science of evolution, Judge Rawlston refused to allow it. He 332 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: said that the matter at hand was not whether evolution 333 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: was scientifically valid, but whether Scopes had broken the law. Indeed, 334 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 1: that would seem to be the point of the trial. Purportedly, 335 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: with a key part of his defense strategy effectively torpedoed, 336 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 1: Clarence Darrow took another tack. Instead of calling scientists to 337 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: the stand testify as to the validity of the theory 338 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,359 Speaker 1: of evolution, he took the highly unusual step of calling 339 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: William Jennings Bryan, the opposing counsel, to the stand on 340 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 1: July twenty, to act as an expert witness on the 341 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,440 Speaker 1: validity of the Bible. At this point, the proceedings had 342 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: been moved outdoors due to the oppressive heat in the 343 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: courtroom and cracks developing in the ceiling under the weight 344 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:56,680 Speaker 1: of the newly installed fans. I just want to say again, 345 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: the defense counsel calling to the stand the prosecutor to 346 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 1: answer questions about something really not related to the issue. Hand, 347 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: that's weird. That's it feels a little showbody like it's 348 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: a big like yeah, drama move yeah. So, when Darrow 349 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: asked if Brian claimed that everything in the Bible should 350 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: be literally interpreted William Jennings, Bryan answered, quote, I believe 351 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: everything in the Bible should be accepted as it is 352 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:31,919 Speaker 1: given there some of the Bible is given illustratively. Following 353 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:35,680 Speaker 1: that answer, Darrow asked him a bunch of questions about 354 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: particular passages from the Bible, like Jonah being swallowed by 355 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: a whale and spit out a whole after three days, 356 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: and Joshua commanding the sun to sand still and the 357 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,159 Speaker 1: Great Flood, and whether the six day creation in Genesis 358 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: was six actual twenty four hour days, and whether Eve 359 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: was literally made from Adam's rib. Basically every Internet conversation 360 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 1: of people of like atheist people asking people of faith 361 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: questions about the Bible, Bryant's answers, in many cases sounded 362 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: imprecise or contradictory, and at the end he accused Darrow 363 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: of trying to use the court to slur the Bible. 364 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: How this was received really depends on who you ask. 365 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: Many religious faithful felt as though William Jennings Bryan had 366 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: conducted himself admirably in the face of someone who was 367 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: clearly trying to humiliate and trap him. Although some Biblical 368 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,640 Speaker 1: literalists were disappointed at his description of the six days 369 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: of Creation as periods, not literal days. Others thought the 370 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,879 Speaker 1: whole exchange was an absurd waste of time unrelated to 371 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: the case. But a lot of the news media, like 372 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: we said, there were a hundred papers represented their portrayed 373 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: Brian in an incredibly negative light, and the Baltimore Evening 374 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,239 Speaker 1: Sun H. L. Menkin wrote quote, Thus he fought his 375 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: last fight, eager only for blood. It quickly became frenzy 376 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: and preposterous, and after that pathetic all sense departed from him. 377 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: He bit right and left like a dog with rabies. 378 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: He descended to demagogi, so dreadful that his very associates blushed. 379 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,400 Speaker 1: His one yearning was to keep his yokels. Heated up 380 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 1: to lead his forlorn mob against the foe. That foe 381 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:27,119 Speaker 1: alas refused to be alarmed. It insisted upon seeing the 382 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: battle as a comedy. Even Darrow, who knew better, occasionally 383 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:36,680 Speaker 1: yielded to the prevailing spirit. Finally, he lured poor Brian 384 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 1: into a folly almost incredible. The next day, July one, 385 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: the judge ruled that Brian could not return to the stand. 386 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: Darrow then asked for the jury to begin deliberations, recommending 387 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 1: that they find the defendant guilty. The jury returned with 388 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,880 Speaker 1: a verdict less than ten minutes later. Scopes, who had 389 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: never taken the stand himself, was guilty. He was fined 390 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,920 Speaker 1: one dollars. The a c o used goal at this point, 391 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 1: and the reason that Darrow, who was the defense attorney, 392 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: recommend that the jury find his client guilty, was to 393 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,880 Speaker 1: appeal this verdict, ideally to appeal it all the way 394 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: to the Supreme Court in a case that would find 395 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: laws like the Butler Act unconstitutional nationwide. But that did 396 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: not happen. At scopes appeal before the Tennessee Supreme Court, 397 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: the verdict was overturned on a technicality, and the original 398 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,199 Speaker 1: trial judge Rawlson had specified that hundred dollar penalty, but 399 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: because the penalty was greater than fifty dollars under the 400 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: Tennessee Constitution, it should have been levied by the jury 401 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:39,919 Speaker 1: not by a judge, with the verdict overturned, and the 402 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: Tennessee Supreme Court also issuing an opinion that the Butler 403 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:47,400 Speaker 1: Act was constitutional because it didn't mandate or establish any 404 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 1: religious belief for practice the A c. O. You had 405 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 1: nothing left to pursue related to the Butler Act in Tennessee. 406 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,879 Speaker 1: Five days after the end of the Scopes trial, William 407 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 1: Jennings Bryan died in his sleep during an afternoon nap. 408 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with the words 409 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: he kept the Faith on his tombstone, and the romanticized 410 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: version of this story is that he died of humiliation 411 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: after Darrow's questioning, or that he died of heartbreak after 412 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: being denied the opportunity to give his closing statement at 413 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:20,119 Speaker 1: the trial. The two leading candidates for the actual cause 414 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: of death are untreated diabetes and stroke. Whatever the cause, 415 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 1: it was almost certainly exacerbated by the stress and physically 416 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,159 Speaker 1: grueling heat in the trial. From that point, Brian was 417 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:34,640 Speaker 1: viewed as a martyr within the anti evolution movement. Five 418 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: years later, Brian College, originally called William Jennings Bryan University, 419 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 1: opened in Dayton as a Christian liberal arts college. The 420 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:48,240 Speaker 1: Scopes trial had a somewhat contradictory aftermath. Tennessee in general 421 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,840 Speaker 1: and Dayton specifically were roundly laughed at in the news media, 422 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:57,480 Speaker 1: which was also particularly unkind to both religious fundamentalism and 423 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: two laws forbidding the teaching of evolution, and yet similar 424 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 1: laws were introduced, although unsuccessfully, in the legislatures of California, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Minnesota, 425 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 1: New Hampshire, North Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia in the 426 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 1: years following the Scopes trial. Arkansas and Mississippi each past 427 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: laws banning the teaching of evolution. Not long after, Even 428 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: though only three states explicitly outlawed the teaching of evolution, 429 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 1: many textbook publishers quietly removed references to it from their 430 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: biology textbooks. This included a new Civic Biology whose seven 431 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:39,200 Speaker 1: edition never specifically references evolution and tiptoes around the basic concepts. 432 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: At the same time, the coverage of the trial and 433 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 1: of William Jennings Bryant's death helped coalesce the anti evolution 434 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:51,200 Speaker 1: movement from sort of a scattered collection of various denominations 435 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:55,919 Speaker 1: to a solid social movement and Darrow's relentless framing of 436 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,119 Speaker 1: evolution and religion, as this either or proposition submits to 437 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 1: the standard for how the issue would be discussed four 438 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: years to come. Attempts to repeal the Butler Act began 439 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty five, but failed. It stayed on the 440 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 1: books until nineteen sixty seven. Governor Austin P died in 441 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,920 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty seven, and his signature on the Butler Act 442 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:21,000 Speaker 1: largely overshadowed the rest of his legacy for decades. It 443 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,679 Speaker 1: would also take decades for a case relating to the 444 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 1: teaching of evolution to make it all the way to 445 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,320 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court. In nineteen sixty eight, the Supreme Court 446 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: heard the case of Susan Epperson, an Arkansas zoology teacher 447 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 1: who had been found guilty of breaking that state's law 448 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: prohibiting the teaching of evolution. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled 449 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: in Epperson versus Arkansas that laws prohibiting the teaching of 450 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 1: evolution violated the First Amendment, and in this case, Epperson 451 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 1: faced the same dilemma that Scopes did back in nineteen 452 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 1: twenty five. Arkansas law had made it illegal quote to 453 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 1: teach the theory or doctrine that mankind ascended or descended 454 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 1: from a lower order of animals end quote, But the 455 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: textbook that the state had adopted in nineteen sixty five 456 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:11,720 Speaker 1: had a chapter on that very thing. After Everson versus Arkansas, 457 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: most states that had previously banned the teaching of evolution 458 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:19,680 Speaker 1: instead mandated that equal time be spent on teaching creationism. 459 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: This includes Tennessee, which passed the nation's first law requiring 460 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: equal time for the Biblical account of creation. In nineteen 461 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:30,920 Speaker 1: seventy three, a federal appeals court ruled this law unconstitutional. 462 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:35,520 Speaker 1: Two years later, that ruling applied only to Tennessee, but 463 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty seven, the Supreme Court ruled that a 464 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: Louisiana law entitled quote, the Balanced Treatment for Creation Science 465 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 1: and Evolution Science in Public School Instruction Act was unconstitutional. 466 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: That case, known as Edward versus Aguiard, applied nationally. From there, 467 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: most states that had passed equal time laws instead began 468 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: to frame the conversation as one of intelligent design line 469 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: or began mandating disclaimers that evolution is just a theory. 470 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 1: In two thousand five, a U. S. District court found 471 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:12,280 Speaker 1: that teaching intelligent design in public schools was unconstitutional in 472 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 1: a case known as kits Miller versus Dover because intelligent 473 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: design quote cannot uncouple itself from its creationist and thus 474 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 1: religious antecedents. The same year, in Salman versus Cobb County 475 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: School District, a federal judge examined the question of whether 476 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: stickers reading quote evolution is a theory not a fact, 477 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: concerning the origin of living things end quote, which the 478 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: school was putting onto textbooks that had information about evolution, 479 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: whether that violated the Constitution, And after going back and 480 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,800 Speaker 1: forth through several levels of the courts, that case was 481 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: ultimately settled out of court in favor of the plaintiffs, 482 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: who were the ones who had objected to the use 483 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: of the stickers. So clearly, as states find new ways 484 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 1: to work around this issue, it's probably one that will 485 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:04,480 Speaker 1: continue to come up in the courts. And in the meantime, Dayton, Tennessee, 486 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 1: actually holds an annual Scopes Trial festival. If you want 487 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,520 Speaker 1: to get in on that. If if you yeah, it's uh. 488 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,840 Speaker 1: It's an interesting phenomenon because it's partially because I mean, 489 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:22,480 Speaker 1: Dayton was really lampooned a lot after this, uh and 490 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:28,200 Speaker 1: and Tennessee also got a lot of just terrible press afterward. Um. 491 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:30,920 Speaker 1: So some of the Scopes festival is meant to try 492 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 1: to reclaim some of like the less like let's make 493 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: complete fun of you side, some more like own this 494 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: is the thing that happened in our town that was 495 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: historically important, and not like the way that the media 496 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: portrayed us was totally accurate, Like not like that at all. Um. 497 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: But it's definitely like there's a play and there's a 498 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: festival happens every year. Are there both monkeys and chimpanzees? 499 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:01,480 Speaker 1: I do not know? Um. As I was first looking 500 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: for artwork because you know, on our website we always 501 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,880 Speaker 1: have pictures, a picture that goes along with the episode. 502 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 1: And as I was looking for artwork before I had 503 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: done the actual research, like I hadn't gotten into the 504 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 1: meat of it yet, and I kept finding this picture 505 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 1: of a chimpanzee in a suit, and I was like, 506 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: what is this? Is this some weird stock art somebody 507 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 1: came up? No, it was the actual chimpanzee in the suit. 508 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:28,280 Speaker 1: Um that was doing public appearances, doing public appearances at 509 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: the drug store during Good Scripts trial. What's the listener 510 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 1: mail situation. I have some listener mail. It's another piece 511 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: of mail that we got following our podcast on the 512 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,959 Speaker 1: Tuskegee syphilis study, and it is from Rachel. Rachel says, Hi, 513 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: Tracy and Holly. I stumbled across your podcast a little 514 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 1: over a year ago, and your show quickly found its 515 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,840 Speaker 1: way to my history loving heart. You're my trustee companions 516 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:54,719 Speaker 1: on long drives to visit my boyfriend. I'm writing specifically 517 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 1: in regard to your recent podcast about the Tuskeye syphilis study. 518 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,440 Speaker 1: I was a history underground ad and my graduate degree 519 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 1: is in public health, specifically epidemiology, so all of your 520 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,400 Speaker 1: health related topics bring me such joy. I loved your 521 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,320 Speaker 1: discussion about the topic, as painful as subject as it is. 522 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: I would just like to add a tiny note. The 523 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 1: horrible events at Tuskegee have shaped public health in a 524 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:21,320 Speaker 1: very profound way. Students and health fields across the country 525 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 1: and the world have learned about the atrocities of this study, 526 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:27,720 Speaker 1: and multiple safeguards, such as the Institutional Review Board i 527 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 1: RB now exists to extensively review any study that includes 528 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:35,360 Speaker 1: human subjects. As you mentioned in the podcast, the study 529 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:40,920 Speaker 1: itself was horrendously unethical informed consent aside. Institutional review boards 530 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 1: are today's safeguard against unethical research studies and require at 531 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: least one member who was unaffiliated with the research institutions. 532 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,080 Speaker 1: An opportunity to serve on an i r B is 533 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 1: likely available to some listeners. While these men and their 534 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: families were tremendously harmed, it brings me some peace to 535 00:32:57,320 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: know that steps have been taken to prevent others from 536 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:03,720 Speaker 1: mixed experiencing what they did. And then Rachel continues with 537 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,960 Speaker 1: some suggestions for future episodes. Thank you so much, Rachel 538 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: for sending that. We've talked about a few of the 539 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: things that UM came about in the aftermath of the 540 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: Tuskee Study, but not specifically the i r B. So 541 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 1: if you would like to write to us about this 542 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: or any other podcast, we're at History Podcast at how 543 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. We're also on Facebook at facebook 544 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:25,880 Speaker 1: dot com slash miss in History and on Twitter at 545 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: miss in History. Are Tumbler, and our pinterests and our 546 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: Instagram are all also at miss in History. You can 547 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 1: come to our parent company's website, which is how stuff 548 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 1: Works dot com find information about just about anything your 549 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 1: heart desires, including all kinds of fascinating information about evolution. 550 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:43,360 Speaker 1: You can come to our website, which is missed in 551 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:45,840 Speaker 1: history dot com, where you will find the show notes 552 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,400 Speaker 1: for this and all of our other episodes that Holly 553 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:50,480 Speaker 1: and I have done together, and an archive of every 554 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:52,959 Speaker 1: episode that has ever been on the show. You can 555 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:54,440 Speaker 1: do all that and a whole lot more at how 556 00:33:54,440 --> 00:34:01,320 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com or miss than history dot com. 557 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:04,040 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit 558 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:13,840 Speaker 1: howstuff works dot com.